


Stage Fright

by ShyFicWriter



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Disobeying Orders, Gen, Music, Nervousness, Protective Yondu Udonta, Singing, Sneaking Around, Sneaking Out, night club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21754537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyFicWriter/pseuds/ShyFicWriter
Summary: You won’t stop sneaking out each Friday night, and Yondu resolves to find out why.
Relationships: Yondu Udonta & Reader
Kudos: 15





	Stage Fright

It was late one Friday night when Yondu and Kraglin could hear the firing of a M-ship engine. They were up later than normal working out the details of an upcoming job, sitting at a table in the nearly empty mess-hall pouring over the drafts and plans they had drawn up. 

Kraglin met Yondu’s confused gaze.

“Did I forget that someone had a late night assignment?” Yondu asked.

“No, Cap,” Kraglin said, opening up his planner to make sure. “No one is scheduled for anything.”

Yondu’s eyes narrowed as he stood from the table. “Then who’s leaving at this hour?”

Kraglin shook his head to indicate he didn’t know as he followed his captain to the Docking Bay. 

They didn’t get there in time to see who had left, so Yondu ordered Kraglin to check all the quarters to see if there was anyone missing who shouldn’t be. The Ravagers may have looked like they didn’t follow any rules, but that was far from true. To keep his crew in line Yondu set a curfew, which was only lifted on nights of celebration. What good were the crew to him if they stayed out late partying every night, after all? Everyone on the crew knew that unless they were on a job they better be back on the ship by midnight or risk getting their pay docked.

So whoever was sneaking out better have a damn good reason. Even then, there would still be hell to pay.

***

Yondu had fallen asleep before he could catch the culprit, but Kraglin hadn’t. After checking all the quarters he noticed you were the only one missing, and he was waiting for you when you returned and docked your M-ship.

He didn’t say much, just gave you a stern look and told you, “Captain wants to see you,” after you exited the ship and met his stern gaze with a startled one. You had never been caught sneaking out before.

You begrudgingly followed the first mate and he led you to your captain, who he woke up by clearing his throat. 

Yondu startled out of his sleep by the noise and quickly sat up in the chair he had fallen asleep in, rubbing his eyes as he tried to fully wake up. He was slightly confused in his grogginess but Kraglin helped him along to know why you were standing before him.

“She’s the one that sneaked out, boss.”

That helped wake the blue man up a little. “Well, ya got anythin’ to say fer yerself?” he asked, a scolding tone to his voice but it was obvious he still wasn’t completely awake.

Not wanting to reveal why you had snuck out, you merely shook your head, accepting whatever fate you had coming to you. “No, sir.”

“Ya know the penalty for sneakin’ out.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement. You knew the consequences if you got caught, yet you chose do do so anyway, so now you were being punished.

You avoided his sleepy gaze. “Yes, sir.”

“I’m dockin’ yer pay, and yer on kitchen duty the rest of this week.”

You sighed but nodded. You hated kitchen duty. The cooks always gave you the crap jobs like cleaning the ovens.

“Don’t do it again. Get to bed.” Yondu ordered, keeping the reprimand briefer than normal as he wanted to get to bed himself.

You nodded and made your way to your quarters, recognizing that you got off relatively easy, but chalked it up to the fact that this was only the first time you’ve been caught. You would actually sneak out every Friday night to go sing in whatever nightclub happened to be on the nearest planet the Eclector happened to be near at the time. You’d never tell Yondu this, however. You’d rather die than risk your captain or the crew finding out for fear of either reprimand or ridicule for doing something frivolous as singing in a club. But it wasn’t like you could just stop. It made you too happy. 

You went to bed as ordered, but you were already planning your next Friday night trip.

***

You almost weren’t sure you’d be able to sneak out again the next Friday after you had been caught. This time you had the mind to check the ship throughly to make sure no one was around to hear you sneak out like last time. During this check you found Kraglin awake in an office. He was organizing the new incoming jobs for Yondu to assign the next morning. 

You waited what seemed like forever, hiding behind a wall just out of his view, waiting for him to turn in for the night. When he finally finished his work you let out a sigh of relief. You thought he’d never leave! But, just to make sure you wouldn’t be caught you waited another 10 minutes after he was gone before heading to the docking bay where you quietly made your way aboard a M-ship and took off for the night.

Little did you know, Kraglin didn’t actually go to bed. He circled back to the Control Room, and you didn’t get off as easy as you thought. He was silently waiting. Watching you on the cameras in the control room as you snuck out.

The day after you had last been caught sneaking out Yondu had ordered Kraglin to keep an eye on you. He, rightfully, assumed that hadn’t been your first time to sneak out, and he was certain it wouldn’t be your last. Kraglin’s task was to see if and when you tried to sneak out again, and to report back to Yondu when you did. It was tiring, staying up just to see if you tried to sneak out, but orders were orders. With nearly a week of no action he was beginning to think it maybe was a one-off occurrence, until tonight.

Once you were gone Kraglin went to Yondu’s Quarters to report you had snuck out. 

Yondu was most definitely not happy. You snuck out again? Just one week after the last time? The insolence!

Needless to say Yondu was waiting up for you when you got back, this time awake and alert, a glare on his face.

You froze when you saw him, your heart skipping a beat. You didn’t even try to speak your case or make excuses. You just nervously approached your captain, knowing you were dead.

“Can ya give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tear the hide right off yer backside for this?” he growled. 

You swallowed and looked up at him, opening your mouth to speak but thinking better of it. Eventually you just shook your head and looked back down.

“Two weeks of kitchen duty, plus latrine duty, and I’m docking yer pay again.” He said angrily. “And yer grounded to the ship.”

The other punishments you could live with, but it was this last one that got your attention. “Grounded?! What am I? A child?!” He couldn’t do that! You couldn’t just stay cooped up on the ship!

“Well ya sure as hell sneak off like one!” He gestured to the ship in frustration. “Kraglin will be keeping an eye on ya, since ya can’t seem to stop sneaking out.”

“A babysitter? You can’t be serious!” you moaned.

“I am. Maybe this will teach ya to quit disobeying orders. Now get to bed before I make it three weeks!”

You growl in frustration, but do as you are told, not wishing to make the punishment worse. You knew you should have just skipped this week, but noOo. You just hAd to go out again. You couldn’t believe this was happening.

***

By the end of the week you were already getting stir crazy. 

Yondu had kept good on his promise. You didn’t get to leave the ship at all. He didn’t give you any scavenging jobs or supply runs, and Kraglin made sure to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn’t leave. Of course you tried dodging him a couple times, but it never worked.

You were so frustrated by the end of the week you almost didn’t care if you got caught sneaking out again. That’s not to say you were careless, however. You took probably the most care in sneaking out as you ever had before. You carried your boots in your hands to avoid making too much noise, you checked to make sure the lights were out beneath Yondu and Kraglin’s doors, hell, you even took a different route than normal.

Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough, though.

Kraglin caught you right outside the docking bay, startling you by stepping outside the doorway and turning to face you just as you were a few feet away.

You froze as Kraglin stared you down with his arms crossed. Your voice wavered slightly as you attempted to make a plea. “We-we don’t need to tell Yondu about this, do we?”

“Nope. ‘Cause he’s right behind you.”

The blood drained from your face and your whole body stiffened. Crap. Crap. Crap. You were dead. You were more than dead, you were already buried. You should have written a will. Hopefully it’ll be quick. Farewell cruel world.

Kraglin cracks a grin and snorts a laugh. “I’m joking, but you should see your face. You practically crapped your pants!”

You glared at him but let a sigh of relief. “Dick!”

“I wouldn’t relax too much. You know I still gotta tell him.“

“Please don’t!” You looked at the Xandarian pleadingly. “He’ll kill me!”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” he said, turning you back around and leading you away from the Docking Bay, “you’ll only wish you were dead.”

“Please, can’t we talk about this?”

Kraglin stops and looks at you. “Look, I don’t like needin’ to babysit you anymore than you do, and I don’t like having to stay up just to make sure you don’t sneak out neither. So how’s about this; you go to bed and quit trying to sneak out, and I’ll have nothing to report back to the captain. Good? Then we both might get what we want. ‘Cause ya know he’s only gonna keep it up if you keep trying to sneak out.”

“Ok. Anything. Just don’t tell him.” You begrudgingly agreed.

You shook on it and walked a few moments in silence before Kraglin spoke again.

“What do you keep sneaking off for anyway? Is it some boy or something?”

“What? No!” You say irritably. “Of course not.”

“Right.” He chuckled, not fully believing you.

You roll your eyes. “Whatever.”

“Fine. Don’t tell me. All I care is that you quit so Yondu will stop making me watch you.”

You sigh and stop at your door, now back to your quarters. Kraglin nodded to you and you parted ways, you sighing in defeat as you went through your door.

There was always next week.

***

The next day Yondu called Kraglin in for his report as he had every morning that week.

“What do ya have for me, son?”

“She didn’t sneak out last night, sir.” Kraglin said. Normally he would have said he had nothing to report, but if he said that today he’d be lying, and he couldn’t do that. So, he settled for the next best thing.

However, Yondu noted how his answer differed from his usual report. “Good. Were there any attempts?” He asked, not looking up from his papers.

This caught Kraglin off guard. He knew he should have stuck to his original line. Realizing he was taking slightly too long to respond he panicked and repeated his previous statement. “She did not sneak out last night, sir.”

Yondu looked up. “Kraglin.”

“Yes, sir?” replied the first mate, slight nervousness creeping into his voice.

“Is there somethin’ ya need to tell me?”

Kraglin tried to keep it together, he really did, but he couldn’t lie to his captain. He spilled like a knocked over glass of milk, and told Yondu how he caught you trying to sneak out and sent you to your quarters.

Yondu was fuming, but he kept a cool face. He simply nodded and dismissed Kraglin to take care of another task, telling him they’d discuss it more when he got back.

There must be a reason why you kept sneaking out, and he was now determined to find out.

When Kraglin returned from his duties Yondu went over the plan with him.

***

The next week you noted how Kraglin’s idea seemed to have worked. Yondu stopped cracking the whip as hard and Kraglin seemed to have a little reprieve from having to constantly babysit you. You were getting pretty confident that you’d be able to leave again this Friday night with little issues.

When Friday rolled around it seemed you were again correct. You didn’t run into anyone on your way to the Docking Bay and you made your way into an M-ship and off the Eclector with no problems at all.

None you were aware of, that is.

What you didn’t realize was that Yondu and Kraglin were watching you the whole time from the cameras in the control room.

Using the GPS tracker on the M-Ship you had taken they were able to see where you were headed and they soon followed, leaving just enough time in between so that you wouldn’t be able to see you were being followed.

The tracker told them that you had flown to the planet closest to the ship, in this case Xandar. When they landed they followed the additional tracker Yondu had instructed Kraglin to hide in your jacket collar at the beginning of the week. This led them to a nightclub nearby.

They snuck in a side entrance, intent on ambushing you inside and pulling you out to take you home and discuss a fitting punishment.

However, once they got inside, you weren’t on the dance floor or at the bar. After searching for a bit and coming up empty the two men rejoined in confusion. The tracker said for sure you were in here.

Yondu instructed Kraglin to get the tracker back out, just in case the off chance you left just as they came in.

“Boss, it still says she’s here?”

“Let me see that. We’ve searched this whole club and ain’t found a hair of her.”

“Maybe we should ask if anyone’s seen her?”

They were so focused on trying to figure out if the GPS tracker was broken that they barely registered that the announcer was speaking.

They were about to give up on the tracker altogether when they heard your voice ring out over the crowd.

They turned towards the stage, and stood in stunned silence.

Yondu and Kraglin exchanged looks of surprise.

They found you.

You were singing.

And you were… actually really great.

Yondu and Kraglin knew you likely couldn’t see them for the dark dance floor, so Yondu took this as an opportunity to sneak him and Kraglin backstage. This way there wouldn’t be an opportunity for you to run off.

They listened in awe from behind the stage as you performed a couple more songs before your time was up and you left the stage.

You walked backstage laughing and joking with the stage manager, him asking when you’d thought you’d be back next. You answered that next week looked good as the ship should still be here until then, but just like always you couldn’t promise anything. You laughed and joked some more before you stated that you’d need to be headed off.

You were still smiling as you headed for the back door, that is until you saw that Yondu and Kraglin were waiting there for you in the dim light.

All the blood drained from your body in that instant and you stopped in your tracks when they walked out of the dark.

“I-I’m sorry!” You stuttered as Yondu approached you, his face expressionless. You were frozen to the spot, wondering what he would do. “I-I’m-” you started again when you were cut off by Yondu grabbing you and pulling you into a tight bear hug.

You were definitely caught by surprise. You had expected to be scolded, or even yelled at, but not crushed by a hug.

He released you with a proud smile. “Why did ya never tell me ya could do that!?”

You blushed. “You… uh… never asked?” you said sheepishly, still a bit startled and confused.

“Aw come now!” he exclaimed, noting your blush, “Ya were great!” He pulled you in for another hug. “I’m so proud of ya, little girl!”

You felt happy tears start to prick at the corners of your eyes. “Really?”

He pulled away again to look you in the eyes. “Of course!”

Kraglin decided to take this moment to throw in some good natured teasing. “Yeah maybe she can sing for the guys at dinnertime.” he laughed.

Your face burned scarlet and you looked at him in horror. “No! Absolutely not.”

“Aw, why not?” he teased, knowing full well you’d never bring yourself to sing for the crew but enjoying this moment to tease you anyway, “you just did it in front of a bunch of strangers! Don’t tell me you’re suddenly shy now.”

“No! The whole point is that I don’t know them! And they don’t know me! I can’t do it in front of the crew!” Part of you was certain he was likely joking, but for all you knew maybe that is how they were going to punish you for sneaking out to do this. 

“Aw shucks! You can’t sing for people you know?” Kraglin grinned, he was enjoying embarrassing you. He could tell you weren’t sure they wouldn’t really make you.

You looked to Yondu for help. You couldn’t do it. Singing for a bunch of strangers in the dark? No problem. Singing for the whole crew that knew you in a fully lit Mess Hall? Big problem. You loved singing, but you also had a crippling stage fright. Hence, why you could only bring yourself to sing in these dark nightclubs.

The Centaurian laughed, “Krags that’s enough teasin’, for now. Ya will have plenty of time for that on the way back to the ship.”

Kraglin lightly punched you in the shoulder. “You were good, kid,” he said, giving you a little reprieve and making you blush again as you thanked him.

“So, am I in trouble?” you finally ask, nervously.

“Why do ya think I’m having Kraglin ride back with ya? The teasin’ will be punishment enough.”

You look at him in surprise. “Wait, so I’m not grounded again?”

“I didn’t say that. There still needs to be consequences for sneaking off, young lady,” he said firmly, “but, I suppose, since this makes ya so happy… and yer good at it… I suppose I can let ya keep doing it. We’ll talk about yer punishment later.”

“Really!?” you said excitedly. Now it was your turn to ambush him with a hug.

Yondu laughed. “Ya, but with some conditions, like behaving yerself. Ya don’t behave and I can just as easily ground from doing it.” he warned.

You looked down. Normally you would have complained that you weren’t a child, but you thought better of it this time. It was tough, but ultimately fair. Plus you weren’t lost on the fact that this was definitely special treatment. He would never allow the same to the rest of the crew. “Yes, sir.”

“Come on now, let’s get back to the ship.” Yondu ordered, and you obeyed.

***

The trip back was torture. 

Your face was beet red by the time you docked due to the constant teasing by Kraglin. He kept jokingly trying to get you to sing for him and going on about how the crew was going to love some dinner entertainment, the whole time you begging and at times even tossing threats his way so he wouldn’t tell anyone else about it.

By now you mostly knew he was joking about making you sing, but you couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of having to sing for the crew. You would literally die.

When Yondu saw your expression as he exited his own ship he laughed, stating that he guessed you really had been punished enough, and thankfully decided not to extend your prior punishment further.

It wasn’t until the next Friday that Yondu revealed what one of those “conditions” for being allowed to go sing in the club would be. 

He was going with you.

At first you were mortified. You couldn’t sing if you knew he could hear you!

You attempted to bargain with him, but he only firmly stated that if you were going, he was coming along. You didn’t need to be going to some club alone and also he wouldn’t mind hearing you sing again, either. Otherwise you could just “hike yer little ass back to yer quarters.”

Eventually you relented, and boarded the M-ship and plotted your course for the same nightclub you had sang in the previous week, Yondu in the co-pilot’s seat. 

The closer you got to your destination Yondu noticed the more nervous you got.

“Ya always this nervous when ya go do this?” he finally asked when you landed, noting how you still had a white knuckle grip on the flight controls.

“No,” you admitted. “You’re what’s making me nervous.”

Yondu laughed as he unbuckled his belt. “Come on now, girl! Ya know I already said ya were great, why are ya still afraid for me to listen just ‘cause ya know me?”

You too got up from your seat and made for the door of the ship. “I don’t know. I can’t help it!”

Yondu shook his head. “Ya really gotta work on that stage fright, girl. I’ve seen ya kick the ass of a man twice yer size, and yet yer scared of somethin’ like someone ya know hearin’ ya sing.”

You blushed and shot him a glare. “Look, can you please just wait outside or something this time? Just until I get used to the idea? I just- I just don’t want to freeze up and embarrass myself.” Your blush deepened at this confession and you avoided his gaze as you waited for an answer, pretending to be intently fixated on the ground as you walked.

Yondu, surprised both that you had confessed this to him and feeling a little guilty that he was making you so nervous, in turn surprised you by agreeing to wait outside the club.

You let a sigh of relief and thanked him, giving him a hug out of gratitude just before you went inside.

Now, Yondu might claim to be a man of his word, but he wasn’t above exploiting a loophole or two.

He never said how long he would wait outside.

He gave it a few minutes until he was sure you wouldn’t be around to notice before making his way inside, keeping to the shadows so that he wouldn’t be discovered. 

After a couple singers went before you it was finally your turn. Yondu listened covertly behind stage to your set of songs unfamiliar to him. He assumed they must be songs from Terra, but he thought you sang them beautifully nonetheless.

When you finally finished your set and made your way to come back out you obviously noticed that Yondu was backstage by the door.

“Come on, man. Not cool!” 

“What? I said I’d wait outside. Never said how long.” he grinned. “Besides, ya never knew I was here and ya still sang great.”

You blushed and lightly punched him in the arm. “Thanks. Do you mean that?”

“Girl, I wouldn’t have said so if I didn’t!” he half scolded. “Yer good, and ya should be proud that ya can do that, missy. Ya already know I am. There’s no need for ya to be nervous about it.”

A warm feeling spread throughout your chest and you hugged him. You didn’t need to say anything more. He already knew, and he hugged you back.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad knowing he was listening to you sing after all.

You didn’t ask him to wait outside anymore after that.


End file.
